A Journey of Another Kind.....

Winter is coming with a lot of things that depress people....shorter days with darkness coming earlier and earlier and for some, seasonal affective disorder, a depressive state caused partly by lack of sunlight and is considered to be a form of depression. Sparky doesn't have S.A.D., so she doesn't mind the shorter days, or even the cold and dreary ones. She loves winter, snow and the brisk temperatures. She loves being outside in the cold! She loves the holiday season. She's weird about loving winter...(that's what Eldo always says, lol). So, time for one last 18 mile bike ride on the Pumpkinvine Bike Trail before putting the bike away for the season. Here is a photo of the last hurrah of the beautiful fall we had here in northwest Indiana.

There were even some roses still blooming on a bush near the trail in mid-November.

The seed pods are settling down for a long winter's nap....

The Amish will be still walking the country roads for church services, but Sparky won't see them again till spring....

The foxtails have come and gone.....

Shortly before Thanksgiving, Sparky and Eldo decided to check out the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train that travels through limited portions of the US every year to raise money for food banks. The cars are decorated with flashing light scenes and holiday music plays. In some towns at a decent hour, the train will stop and put on a show for train watchers. There is no cost except for a donation of food items. The route just happens to pass through northwest Indiana every year, but you have to get up somewhere between 2:30 A.M. and 4:00 A.M to see it. Eldo is a train buff. Sparky is a little kid at heart, so this year, even though Sparky was working the next day, we decided to get up and go see it in Goshen, IN. Although we got up at 2:45 A.M., the train was an hour late.  And it was shorter than we thought it would be! It was there and gone in less than two minutes, but it was COOL. 

In mid November, right before Thanksgiving, Sparky got some bad health news...She has breast cancer. She had been waiting for the shoe to drop for the last couple of years, since it is in her family. There was no evidence on a mammogram last year, but this year was a little different, something suspicious. The doctors have always said that she has extremely dense tissue and mammograms were tough to read. This time an ultrasound was ordered and two highly suspicious malignant lumps were found. After a biopsy in early December, the diagnosis is 1. invasive lobular carcinoma with a tumor of at least 16mm in the breast, and 2. with metastatic carcinoma in a lymph node. From here, a consult with a surgeon soon. It's going to be a long journey. Sparky will probably not say much here on the blog for awhile, but will post an update now and then. 

We still might post things we do for fun, that's important! Like go see the holiday lights in Shipshewanna and other places in the next couple of weeks. Sparky is going to go see her daughter in Houston before all the you-know-what hits the fan, and Eldy has a cruise with his son's family that happened to coincide at the same time, so we are going to enjoy ourselves and the holiday before settling in for the long haul.

Thank you for reading and following us....

            Best wishes for a happy holidays and quality family time....

                                    Sparky and Eldo